Ten thousand volunteer firefighters flee CFA since Daniel Andrews came to office

A senior Labor Minister has blamed a post pandemic worldwide volunteer shortage in response to the CFA’s crisis with the loss of 10,000 firefighters since Daniel Andrews’ reign started.

A senior Labor Minister has blamed the CFA’s volunteer crisis on global workforce challenges faced following the pandemic.

MP Natalie Hutchins said all sorts of organisations had been challenged with volunteer recruitment.

“Unfortunately, like so many industries and so many volunteer organisations, we have seen challenges with workforces – not just here in Victoria, but across Australia and a phenomenon across the world,” she said.

“We’ve had people just make the decision post Covid to retire at an earlier age.

“There are ongoing challenges.”

Senior Labor Minister Natalie Hutchins has blamed a post Covid global recruitment issue for the CFA volunteer crisis. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Ms Hutchins comments come after it was revealed volunteer firefighters have been fleeing the CFA, with more than 10,000 leaving the service since Daniel Andrews came to office.

The number of operational volunteers has shrunk from 38,335 to 28,936 since 2013-14 with “years of neglect” being blamed for the worrying decline.

In the same time, the percentage of operational volunteers has decreased as a percentage of the total workforce from 64 per cent to 55 per cent.

CFA insiders are now warning urgent intervention is needed to avoid the potential collapse of the service if the trend is not curbed.

There’s been a worrying drop in volunteer firefighters in the CFA since Daniel Andrews was first elected.

Volunteers are in some instances now routinely being sent across the state to assist with firefighting efforts, according to sources.

It comes as the latest climate modelling from the weather bureau shows Australia could experience one of the hottest and driest El Nino periods on record after three years of above-average rainfall.

While La Niña brings cooler, rainy weather, El Niño brings hot, dry conditions leading to fears of drought, heatwaves and bushfires.

Three consecutive years of heavy rainfall has also led to more vegetation meaning more fuel for fires come summer.

Emergency Volunteer Awareness Campaign director Garth Head was a former principal adviser to the Bracks Government for Police and Emergency Services.

He said a minimum level of operational volunteers was set at 40,000 to enable simultaneous response to emergencies, allow for rotating crews to avoid exhaustion, and maintain local response service in each local brigade area.

“The problem is getting worse. The number of very experienced senior volunteers who in the past made up a significant proportion of qualified major incident controllers, incident management team members and field sector and division commanders is at an all time low after years of neglect and an organisational failure to have a systematic approach to ensuring training, mentoring and ensuring experience for such roles,” he said.

CFA are warning urgent intervention is needed to avoid the potential collapse of the service. Picture: Jason Edwards

In 2020 the organisation was thrown into turmoil amid the controversial reform of the state’s firefighting services which saw the former MFB with the CFA career staff to form the new Fire Rescue Victoria.

The move led to a slew of resignations from senior postings following tense negotiations with the state government.

Angry volunteer firefighters claimed they had been betrayed by the State Government and sidelined in the organisation they are supposed to run.

Mr Head said the merger had contributed to the service’s falling numbers.

“The fire services restructure has made it worse with Fire Rescue Victoria and the United Firefighters Union controlling who CFA can appoint to operational manager and commander roles – roles that are pivotal in recruitment and sustaining volunteer firefighter force and ensuring their development and opportunities for qualifications and experience,” he said.

“EMV are increasingly trying to reserve incident management roles to public servants or paid staff and cut out experienced senior volunteers.”

Angry volunteer firefighters claimed they had been betrayed by the State Government over 2020 reforms. Picture: Sarah Matray

Opposition spokeswoman for Emergency Services, Ann-Marie Hermans, described the situation as “dire”.

“CFA volunteers are leaving in droves after years of being attacked by Daniel Andrews and his government,” she said.

“It is crucial that this Labor Government gives our CFA the respect it deserves, acknowledges the sacrifices hardworking volunteers make each and every day and does everything in its power to support them with the resources and tools it needs to attract and retain a strong volunteer network.”

But a CFA spokesman defended its falling volunteer base.

“CFA has never drawn on its full pool of operational volunteers in any given year and its membership in these operational roles remains strong right across the state,” he said.

“During the most recent extreme campaign fires in the 2019-2020 fire season, CFA deployed around 6800 firefighters to fires in both Victoria and interstate.

“CFA works hard to support its members, as well as their families and employers, so they can perform their important role in protecting lives and property.”

Senior government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the CFA’s volunteer crisis was reflective of workforce challenges across the world.

“Unfortunately, like so many industries and so many volunteer organisations, we have seen challenges with workforces – not just here in Victoria, but across Australia and a phenomenon across the world,” she said.

“We have seen volunteers in all sorts of organisations be challenged with their recruitment.

“We’ve had people just make the decision post Covid to retire at an earlier age.

“There are ongoing challenges.”

Ms Hutchins said Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes was focused on a recruitment plan for the CFA with a vision to attract younger volunteers.

Last year, more than 2200 new volunteer members and around 300 junior members across the state.